Harper hadn’t thought she would be this nervous. But as an ominous fall wind whipped her pale hair and dark clouds threatened rain, Harper’s mouth felt dry and her palms were sweating. Crossing the sidewalk, she paused to take a deep breath, then pushed through the glass front door into the single-story brick building that housed the offices of Maximum Security. For her meeting with Chase, she had dressed with care in a navy blue cotton pencil skirt, a crisp print blouse, tucked in and belted, and high-heeled navy pumps. Simple, classic pieces, moderately priced, from the latest Elemental Chic collection. “May I help you?” A perky little receptionist, pretty and dark-haired, with big blue eyes behind round tortoiseshell glasses, sat at the front desk. “I’m Harper Winston. We spoke on the phone yesterday. You made an appointment for me with Chase Garrett.” “Yes, I remember. Chase saw it when he checked his calendar this morning. I’ll let him know you’re here.” She buzzed him and announced Harper’s arrival. Harper had no idea what sort of greeting she would receive. The petite brunette smiled. “You can go on back. His office is just through that door.” Harper crossed the room,…

Happy New Year to you all! I’m so excited about my new release, the third book in the Blue Justice series, CODE OF VALOR (available now!) and am so honored to be on the Fresh Fiction blog once again. Since we’re right around the holidays – or just coming off the sugar high related to them – I thought I’d share a favorite recipe that I can see the St. John family enjoying. It’s a recipe that I found somewhere and through a bit of experimentation, changed it up a bit to suit me. 🙂 Not a whole lot, but a little. It’s a Strawberries and Cream Cheese Pie with an Oreo crust. – 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips – 2½ tsp shortening – room temperature (I start with 2½,  you can add more if you find you need it.) – 1 Oreo pie crust – 1 8-oz block cream cheese, softened to room temperature – 1/2 cup sugar – 1/2 cup sour cream – set it out to room temp and it mixes better. – 1 tsp vanilla – 1 tub Cool Whip (8 oz) – I also let this sit out and warm up to room temp before…

10. Confidence: What’s sexier than a man who’s strong, powerful, knows what he wants in life and how to get it? Bad boys are bristling with testosterone and driven to achieve their goals, whether that’s conquering the board room or the bedroom. Plus, bad boys LOVE women who are a perfect match for them—meaning a gal who’s just as strong, feisty, and sexy as he is (whether she knows it or not). 9. Generosity: He’s a giver, a guy who loves to please and is super good at it too (wink). A Bad Boy understands his woman is unique and each time he’s with her it’s special. The sensual journey is a mystery, but it’s guaranteed to be amazing when both people mutually surrender to the magic between them. Bad boys understand and respect that gives and take and it only adds to their wicked powerful attraction. 8. Communication: Despite his flaws, any good Bad Boy knows how to communicate with women. He doesn’t hide what he’s thinking and feeling. And sure, sometimes it might not be what the heroine wants to hear, but he’s honest. 7. Instincts: Bad Boys know when the time is right and they’re not afraid…

I love the beginning of the year. I’m not one to set resolutions necessarily because I set goals monthly and quarterly, but I do love the idea of a fresh start. I am someone who loves a paper planner, and I use more than one, so there’s something renewing about closing my planners and opening up brand new ones with blank pages. All the possibilities of things to come is exciting. And one thing I love to prepare for is a great year of reading. I’m a writer and have to be pretty intentional about my reading because it’s a main source of writing inspiration and is a way for me to practice self-care. When I stop reading, things go south quickly. However, it’s easy to let reading slide when I’m under writing deadlines and there’s so much work to do running a business. So each year, I’m very deliberate about having a robust reading life. Here are five things I do to make sure that my reading year is going to be fantastic… 1. Choose or create a reading challenge. I love tracking things and checking off boxes. So what better way to do that than with a reading…

It’s my favorite time of year…I get to choose my favorite cozies released in the past twelve months!  And yet, it’s the hardest thing to do, almost like looking at all of the ornaments on my tree and trying to decide which ones I like the most. Since they all belong to my kids and were gifts from my parents who have been gone for too many years, it’s a monumental task, emotional and heart-warming. Like our ornaments, each mystery I’ve featured, along with the books featured on the Cozy Corner by guest authors, has a special place on my bookshelf. Whether it be the hardback, paperback or the ebook, I tend to keep more than I should so that I can go back and reminisce about the wonderful experience. Maybe I should start a tree with book ornaments—my very own Charli Rae and Scarlet would love that in the Book Barn, don’t you think? Princess the armadillo, however, would probably root through the ornaments and knock over the tree. Goodness, but I do see a holiday novella scurrying through my brain for next year! Without further ado, I give you my favorite mysteries and blogs of 2018! Teen Drama…

Many gods and goddesses from the many mythologies around the world populate the pages of my newest release, Analiese Rising. I had a lot of fun researching and learning about them. Some I’ve heard of before, others I didn’t even know existed. The challenge was taking from their stories and creating a modern version of each—giving them unique personalities based on their legends. Today, I thought I’d introduce you to many of them from my book. I’ll start with Sid, aka Sidapa, and Bulan. Sidapa and Bulan are gods from Philippine mythology. Theirs is a love story between two male gods. Sidapa admired the seven moons’ beauty that he tried to romance them until one, Bulan, answered Sidapa’s attempts to romance the moons. He came down to Earth, and they lived together as lovers on Mt. Madjaas. This story intrigued me so much that I had to add the gods to Analiese Rising. In my story, Sid loves to wear makeup and seems like a player, but when the moon calls, he’s off to spend time with Bulan who only comes to earth on a full moon. Lugh, a Celtic sun god of many skills. He’s a trickster god and…

Hope. It’s a concept that can feel out of reach during tumultuous times. When our eyes and ears are flooded with the reality of national disunity and violence, a difficult family situation, broken finances, career disappointment, or frustration with ourselves for a multitude of reasons, hope can feel…flimsy. Like it belongs to some other person in some other time. But hope is something that we can have and hold on to in any time and circumstance. And here are a few ways to help you do just that: Develop perspective. No matter what is happening in our own lives, it is likely that there are others going through even more difficult circumstances. This doesn’t mean that our pain doesn’t matter. It means that we are not alone. There are people out there who understand what we’re going through because they’ve been through it—and worse. The struggles others have experienced in the past and in other parts of the world—war, genocide, displacement, religious persecution, lack of medical care, and more—help our own troubles become smaller, less scary, less insurmountable. Reading the account of a Holocaust survivor or a quadriplegic athlete is sure to put things in perspective. Count small blessings. I…

Cowboy Wolf Trouble is the first installment of my new paranormal romance series, The Seven Range Shifters. The second installment in the series, Cowboy in Wolf’s Clothing, will be released on June 25, 2019. In this series, seven shifter clans call the Montana mountains home. Ruled by The Grey Wolf pack, they must come together to fight a new evil in their midst. I think the best way to describe the series concept to readers is to say the characters are cowboys by day, wolf shifters by night. As an author, it’s been both fun and challenging to combine the paranormal and western romance subgenres. Both cowboys and werewolves are beloved romance tropes, so balancing the two well can be tricky, but I’ve certainly enjoyed the challenge. One way I’ve always kept my inspiration for my characters on track is to visualize what they would look like in real life. It helps to make them even more real in my mind. Below you’ll find my dream cast for Cowboy Wolf Trouble. I’ve always hoped that one of my books optioned for film someday and if I could pick the cast for Cowboy Wolf Trouble, these actors and actresses would be…

‘Tis the season for family, friends, and fun traditions. If you’re like me, you’ve got some that have lasted since childhood and others that morph every year. This time of year can be frantic and sometimes overwhelming, but I always love it. For me, the season starts at the beginning of December with a newer tradition: high tea surrounded by Christmas lights. Each year, I do it twice: once with a group of friends I’ve (mostly) known since elementary school, then again with my fiancé. Then, the season kicks into high gear with a long-time favorite: holiday shopping for my family. Next up is a newer one: tree and ornament shopping with myfiancé. The way that tradition is going, I’m going to have to buy a bigger tree each year to hold all of the ornaments! Next up are a few traditions that you might expect for a suspense and romantic suspense writer. First is something I do with my critique partner: the annual watching of our favorite holiday movie: DIE HARD (yes, it’s a holiday movie!). Then is a newer tradition – since I sold my first novels in 2012, I’ve either had a book due in December or…

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Olivia Drake. Writes:  I write Regency England historical romance in the style of Lisa Kleypas, Mary Jo Putney, Kelly Bowen, Sophie Jordan, and Sarah MacLean.  THE DUKE I ONCE KNEW, a January release from St. Martin’s Press, is the first in a new series, “Unlikely Duchesses,” about deserving young ladies who are obliged by circumstance to seek employment in the house of a duke.  It stars Max Bryce, the Duke of Rothwell, a rake who vowed never to marry after being rejected by his first love, Abby Linton, the girl next door. Unbeknownst to him, Abby thinks he rejected her since he never replied to her letters.  When they meet again fifteen years later, Abby is governess to his sister, and his attraction to the spirited spinster poses a danger to his roguish lifestyle.  Abby, on the other hand, scorns a man of his wicked reputation – and so the sparks fly! Booklist calls THE DUKE I ONCE KNEW “a…